Comments on: Insect-Eye Digital Camera Sees What You Just Didhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/
A science salon hosted by National Geographic MagazineSun, 02 Aug 2015 18:15:24 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3By: Andrew Wilsonhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-50946
Fri, 31 May 2013 11:39:34 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-50946One bugbear of mine: Compound eyes don’t form images, nor do the brains they are attached to. They are just another way of successfully measuring optic flow. Flow, and the features that remain invariant over that flow, is the basis of vision, not anything like an image.
]]>By: Mike from Ottawahttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-48182
Thu, 09 May 2013 17:15:43 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-48182Sibusiso: check out PZ Myers’ post at (a previous iteration of) his Pharyngula blog on rhabdomeric and ciliary eyes for info on the common roots of our eyes and those of arthropods.

]]>By: Helenehttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-48037
Wed, 08 May 2013 04:56:55 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-48037I would love to see pictures that a compound lens camera would make.
]]>By: Sibusiso Biyelahttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-47987
Tue, 07 May 2013 16:40:53 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-47987Hey Ed. Did anthropod-eyes and normal eyes evolve separately or did they stem from a common ancestor? Frankly, I find either answer fascinating.

[Sibusiso, good question. They evolved independently. In general, animal eyes have evolved independently dozens of times over. BUT, many of them used the same genetic building blocks. – Ed]

]]>By: kali wudigahttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-47984
Tue, 07 May 2013 16:14:22 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-47984Can this be used in our eyes when the catteract are removed to improve our vision?
]]>By: Ximena Nelsonhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-47667
Fri, 03 May 2013 20:12:43 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-47667Hi Ed, as usual, I love your blog, but while spiders are Arthropods, they don’t have compound eyes, as implied at the beginning of this piece.
[D’oh! I even knew that. Thanks Ximena. Corrected. – Ed]
]]>By: Nicolehttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-47649
Fri, 03 May 2013 15:24:21 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-47649A great introductory book is Animal Eyes by Land and Nilsson (2002) – it does a really good job explaining insect eyes. Facets of Vision is a heavier read, but deals with a lot of the historical research too.
]]>By: abdul habib mamudhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-47592
Thu, 02 May 2013 17:56:59 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-47592very impressive discoveries and mind aiding facets
]]>By: Michael Habibhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-47591
Thu, 02 May 2013 17:28:01 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-47591Sandeep: I’m not sure what Ed Yong will recommend, but my first thought is that you might want an insect biology book rather than an optics book for compound eye information. Biologists have been interested in these systems for longer than engineers because of their applicability to arthropod behavior. Check out the books used by entomology courses.
]]>By: Sandeephttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/02/insect-eye-digital-camera-sees-what-you-just-did/#comment-47589
Thu, 02 May 2013 16:07:02 +0000http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/?p=155254#comment-47589great post. this is probably the only blog that I read on a regular basis.

Would you know of an introductory book on optics (undergrad level) which explains how compound eyes work? I don’t have the time to pursue a full-fledged degree in this topic but would love to know more on this topic.